1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communications jack expansion kit. More specifically, the present invention discloses jack modules that can be connected to a specially designed jack extension cable, and which can be used for both telephone wiring and computer network wiring.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Telephone jacks and their associated telephone plugs have a standard design (RJ-11) that enables a user to easily plug a telephone into a telephone network. Computer network wiring utilizes a similar standard, RJ-45. Although the design of these jacks is convenient, their placement or availability in a room is not always so. Frequently, a user may need access to a telephone or computer jack only to find that all available jacks are in use, or that the nearest available jack is located inconveniently far away.
The user has options, of course. In the event that the nearest telephone or computer jack is located too far away, an extension cord may be employed. This is depicted in FIG. 1. A prior art extension cord 14 has a plug 10 on one end for plugging into a jack 12. The jack 12 may be either a computer network jack, or a telephone jack. The other end of the extension cord 14 terminates with a jack 16. The user then plugs into the jack 16 to connect to the telephone or computer network.
The extension cord 14 is of no use, though, if no jacks 12 are available for the plug 10 to plug into. This is quite a common occurrence in office environments where a plethora of fax machines, telephones, modems and networking equipment quickly use all available jacks 12. In this case, the user must buy an adapter that coverts a single jack into two jacks. Such an adapter is depicted in FIG. 2. A jack expansion adapter 20 has a plug 22 for plugging into a jack 24. Once plugged into the jack 24, the expansion adapter 20 has two jacks 26 that a user may use to connect to the telephone or computer network.
The extension cord 14 and expansion adapter 20 are straightforward designs that are easy to use. They are not, however, very flexible. For example, the user may end up with a large amount of excess cable tangled under his or her desk when using the extension cord 14, as the vast majority of users are unwilling to cut and splice the cable 14 to an optimum required length. On the other hand, the expansion adapter 20 may not offer enough extra jacks 26, and the jacks 26 that are provided may require the extension cord 14 to bring them to within working distance of the user.
It is therefore a primary objective of this invention to provide a thin line communications jack expansion kit that permits a user to flexibly position as many jacks as he or she may require, using as little cable as necessary. The jacks may be utilized for computer networks, telephone networks or other similarly wired networks.
The present invention, briefly summarized, discloses a thin line jack expansion module that clips onto and electrically connects to a thin line expansion cable. The thin line expansion cable has signal lines for transmitting communications signals. The expansion module has an internal module and an external module. The internal module has a cable bay for accommodating the thin line expansion cable, cable contacts in the cable bay for establishing electrical connections with the signal lines of the thin line expansion cable, and a jack. The jack is electrically connected to the cable contacts. The external module clips onto the internal module and at least partially covers the cable bay. When the thin line expansion cable is set in the cable bay, and the external module is snapped onto the internal module, the cable contacts will electrically connect the jack to the signal lines within the thin line expansion cable.
It is an advantage of the present invention that as many expansion jack modules as the user may require can be clipped onto the thin line expansion cable. Furthermore, the expansion modules can be clipped onto the cable at any point so that the cable can efficiently strung, the expansion jacks being clipped onto it at exactly those points here they are needed.
These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, which is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.